It would make sense to invest in things people will always need versus luxaries with the gloom'n doom forcast. My family always invested in guns and land. Both keep going up.

Whatever happened to Mitch? Did the fashion police finally catch up to him? I bet he's investing in Ky jelly for his daddy.

Howdy Brent. Good question... I suggest that you spread your $ eggs among several different investment baskets. Commodities are big right now. Metals, mining companies, energy companies, to name a few. World (ie: Chinese) demand is high for these items, and also the price of oil is steadily increasing, probably because of the Peak Oil phenomenon. Then there are precious metals (primarily silver and gold), which can be bought online as shares, or purchased in the form of tangible bullion/coins (online or at your local coin store). Silver and gold have skyrocketed in price/value in the last few years, and will probably continue to do so. You can also invest in foreign currencies via funds like the MERKX fund. Every time the dollar falls in value, the MERKX fund makes money. Precious metals and foreign currencies are a way of hedging your investments against the further decline of the US dollar. Personally, I think that buying tangibles such as survival food stores and ammunition is also a viable form of investing and hedging. And, by stocking up on usable tangibles (TP, food, ammo, soap, ziplock bags, etc. -- stuff that you will always need and use) now, you avoid inflation later.

Have you heard of Stephen Leeb? He writes a subscription newsletter called The Complete Investor that I find very useful. Leeb has a proven track record in terms of spotting economic trends before they occur, and in giving valuable investment advice on how to traverse them. If you look for a deal, you can probably subscribe to the Complete Investor for $39 a year, and get 2 free books also as part of the package. That is what I just did when I renewed my subscription. I urge you to google him and read what people have to say about him, as I believe that he is the real deal.

I hope this is useful advice. I've been interested in survival investing for about 3 years now and have settled on the investment strategy I've listed above.

LOL Adam! ... actually KY might be worth investing in haha :) people will always need/want lube.

You all are on the right path..investing in stuff like toilet paper is always a good idea..unless we figure out something better to wipe our asses with. My family also invests in guns/ammo and land...it's only going up from here..esp with inflation. If you don't need it now you will later..otherwise you can sell/trade it for something you can use. My theory is I'd rather be left holding a bunch of stuff I can use instead of a bunch of dollars (paper) that aren't worth anything.

If you plan to invest in intangible goods (stocks, bonds, CDs, etc.), you'd probably be best off doing it through a local credit union, that way the money stays mostly within your own community (some will give you the option of investing locally only, but you usually have to ask). Credit unions also offer higher interest rates on basic accounts like checking and savings, often double the rates of commercial banks. You can also join local investor's clubs and pool your money with like-minded others for larger returns.

Oh yeah, land. Land land land land land. Land has intrinsic (real) value. Invest in it. Specially now, when the value of the US dollar is falling. It's a way of preserving wealth in inflationary times...and I do think we're headed into an inflationary era. I just bought a piece of land partly as a bugout retreat but also partly because it's a load off my mind to not have the money any more. The land is worth what I paid for it, and what I paid for it wasn't much. The way I see it, it's a winning proposition.

Credit cards are a tool that can be used to one's financial advantage. That statement probably sounds an alarm bell for a lot of people, but hear me out. I used to work with a woman who told me that she bought a car for $8,000 in the early 90s. She paid for it with 0% credit cards and kept flipping the balances onto new 0% credit cards every year, and she paid the car off in 4 years without ever paying 1 cent of interest. I protested that this is bad for your credit rating, but she told me it's not. Someone out there will insist it is, but it isn't. And if it IS very slightly bad for your credit rating, it's nothing you can't fix in a year. I finally got to seeing my coworker's way of thinking, and bought this very laptop I'm writing on with a 0% credit card. I flipped the balance several times and paid $50 to $100 every month, and paid it off in 2 years without ever paying any interest. Did it adversely affect my credit rating? If so, not by much. I was granted an unsecured personal loan by a bank 6 months ago, without any hitches. I have excellent credit.

Another more obvious way to use credit cards to your advantage is to gather points with your purchases, and then pay the balances off completely every month.

Or, make a major purchase on one card and get the points, then transfer that large balance onto a 0% card.

When applying for a 0% card, make sure there is no balance transfer fee (no fees period) and also make sure that the annual percentage rate is decent once the 0% offer ends.

I am not advocating anything illegal here. I am advocating that you pay your minimum balances promptly and on time every month, and that you pay off any interest-bearing balances immediately. But if you are skillful in how you use credit cards, they can benefit you financially.